1. Field of the Invention
The disclosed relates to an improved, economical, lock shaft for use in rewinding materials from a full-length core to multiple, smaller cores.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
During the manufacturing of rolled materials, such as fabric, paper, adhesives. etc., the machinery used places the material onto long cores. The material is subsequently cut, while on the original core, and the cut material is rerolled onto new cores cut to the appropriate width. The problem of rewinding the material onto smaller cores and removing those cores has, until now, required expensive, complicated equipment.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,029,037 a shaft is disclosed for rewinding that is expanded during the rewinding process and unexpanded for removal of the cores. The elongated, substantially cylindrical member has a portion, intermediate the ends, which is slotted. The slots radially extend outwardly when pneumatic, or other pressure-fluid-operated means are applied. This radial expansion of the intermediate portion, is accompanied by a slight bowing outwardly of the wall of the cylindrical member. Although the '037 device does accomplish the desired effect, the cost of the multi-pieced shaft and pneumatics is substantial and the manufacturing more complicated.
Drum-type winders are employed in particular to wind webs of paper or cardboard deriving from a supply reel into smaller individual reels, whereby the web from the supply reel is simultaneously slit longitudinally into individual webs. They have two or more drums and the reels are wound axially adjacent onto cores in the valley between two drums. Once the drums have attained the desired diameter, the longitudinally slit individual webs arriving from the supply reel are separated, the finished reels unloaded and fresh cores inserted. U.S. Pat. No. 5,012,987 improves on the prior art drum winders by incorporating core accommodation to enable different sized cores to be used.
The foregoing drum winders, however, transfer into smaller diameter cores and no means are provided to enable rewinding to smaller length cores.